A Chain of Changes
by Trinity Kouya Hime-sama
Summary: What if in the third season at the end of exit strategy Cole took the power stripping potion. Might that one event start off a chain of events that will change the charmed ones lives. PhoebeCole Paige will be in this. About the whole family too. ON HOLD
1. Chapter 1

"Do it, Free yourself" Ranor urged.

"No" Cole growled, and with that he threw an energy ball at Ranor to distract him, and he grabbed the now cool power stripping potion and downed it in one gulp. And immediately he erupted in flames, Phoebe screamed looking in from the crack in the door. And Prue threw open the door with her powers and they ran into the room. Quickly reading the situation in the attic, Prue again used her powers, this time to direct an athame towards Ranor, and it hit, he fell to his knees bleeding from the throat where he was hit. And with that he went up in flames, and the only thing left was the first amulet in the spot where he had been.

"Cole" Phoebe screamed watching in horror as Cole continued to burn and then there was a flash, which forced everyone to look away, and when they looked back Cole was still there, although on his knees and looking worse for the wear.

"Leo" Piper yelled and ran to his side.

"Oh god Cole, thank god, I thought we'd done it wrong and that you were gone" Phoebe said.

"For a minute, so did I" Cole said.

"Oh god, what happened to Leo and Jenna?" Prue asked.

"They should both be okay. They both were hit with energy balls from Ranor, but Jenna's amulet protected her and Leo can't die, so they should both wake up soon" Cole said sounding exhausted.

"Look" Prue said "The first amulet, Ranor must have been carrying it with him and it survived the vanquish." Prue picked it up to admire it. "It's quite pretty actually, not bad looking at all" she said.

"Wow, pretty strong amulet to survive all that" Piper said.

"Yeah, I guess they will have to find a new keeper now" Prue said and then paused and said "Actually, I have an idea. Now that Cole is human and good, and without powers, maybe he should keep it. It would help protect him while he is here, which would be good since as a mortal he will be in more danger. And since he is now human and good it will protect him."

"Oh Prue that's a great idea" Phoebe said sounding happy.

"Well, I like the idea in theory, but I don't think the elders will be too happy with the idea" Piper said.

"Well, who says we have to tell them, they know that it was stolen and for all they know it now is in the underworld, we don't have to tell them we recovered it" Prue said smugly.

"Well I certainly like the idea of finally pulling one over the Elders, but Leo may not like it" Piper said.

"Well for once he's going to have to side with his family instead of his bosses, or he will if he knows what's good for him" Prue said.

"I don't know" Cole said.

"What's not to know, it will keep you safe from magical attacks, so it will be safe for you here, that's a good thing" Phoebe said.

"Well yes, but it's so girly" Cole said making a face.

All three girls cracked up at hear that and finally Prue said "Poor Cole, you'll just have to get over it."

"Oh thanks so much" Cole muttered.

"Oh stop, you have to take it Cole, I don't want anything to happen to you, and in this household with no magical protection something would defiantly happen. For a minute tonight I thought it was over; I saw Jenna and Leo out and you faltering and I felt my heart breaking. Feeling that, just the beginnings of it, I know I couldn't survive the full thing, so I can't loose you. So please put aside your pride and wear it" Phoebe begged.

"Alright, but that's no fair, you know I'd do almost anything for you, and this is just a horrible thing to force me to do" Cole muttered unhappily.

They heard a moan from Leo and they all turned and Piper exclaimed "Leo, thank goodness you're alright."

"Yeah, are Jenna and Cole alright?" Leo asked.

"I'm okay" Cole said surprised that Leo was worried about him.

"And Jenna could use some healing" Prue told him.

"Cole, your okay? I thought for sure you were a goner, you were so close to being unable to hold on already" Leo exclaimed.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence" Cole said.

Leo looked ashamed and said "I did not mean it like that, I just mean turning back and forth from Balthazar so much has put you too close, I did not mean that…"

"It's alright, I know. And yeah, I wouldn't have if that potion hadn't been right within reach. Right as I was at the point I felt I was breaking I grabbed it and downed it" Cole told him.

"Oh, wow, that's so great, but you are human now?" Leo asked.

"Looks that way" Cole said.

"Well thank goodness thats all over" Piper said, sounding tired.

"I better heal Jenna up and take her home" Leo replied.

"Sounds like a plan, although you may want to talk to the elders about relocating her, or putting the amulet with someone else. Since who knows how many demons know about her having it now," Prue told him.

"That's a good point, I'll do that later" Leo replied.

"Yeah, for now I think we should just take a week off and rest or something" Phoebe announced.

"Here here" Piper agreed.

"I wouldn't mind resting for awhile, that really took it out of me" Cole said quietly.

"Well then lets call it a day, we can deal with everything else later" Prue said.

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"Its strange to finally be human, even after several days it doesn't feel real" Cole announced to the family at dinner several days later.

"But it is real, and finally there are no more obstacles in our relationship" Phoebe said happily.

"So I take it this means you'll be moving in full time?" Prue asked.

"Well, if Phoebe wants me too and if you guys are okay with it" Cole replied sounding unsure.

"Of course I want you too, not only do I want you to, but I'm gonna force you to" Phoebe told him.

"Well I don't mind if you stay here" Piper told him.

"It will be nice to have another guy around the house" was Leo's response.

Everyone waited for what Prue would say and finally she said "Yeah yeah, its fine by me."

"Oh thank you thank you thank you!" Phoebe cheered.

"Yeah, thanks" Cole said.

"This should be fun!" Phoebe said enthusiastically "Although if you are going to be living as a human there are a lot of things we are going to have to do."

"Yeah, we should call Daryl and see about getting Cole's file cleared up or something, and then maybe you can find a job or something to take up some time, otherwise you'll probably die of boredom" Prue said.

"True, what few cases I actually handled while with the DA I really liked, and well I'll be able to help people" Cole said.

"Cole, Daryl may be able to change a few files, but there is no way you can go back to the DA, we can't erase their memories" Prue said.

"Oh right, I was not thinking. But still there is always work for a lawyer" Cole said.

"So I hear" Prue said.

"Besides, with five people living here, only having two bringing in any money won't work terribly well" Cole said.

"Well that's certainly true, and it would be nice to have a few extra bucks in the family account" Piper said.

"You guys just put all the money in a family account?" Cole asked.

"Yep, ever since we became moved back here we just got one big bank account, it works best that way since everyone, including Leo and Phoebe need to get money and it would be pointless to have two accounts and try to work out paying bills out of both" Piper said.

"Somehow I have a feeling that you take care of all the bills" Cole stated.

Piper grinned and said "Yep."

"Alright, well lawyers usually get good pay, and I can definitely find a higher paying job I'm sure. So soon the family account will have more in it" Cole said "Don't worry, I won't be a burden, I'll earn my own keep. Even if I can't fight demons with you I'll still be able to help out."

"Thanks, that will help, but it's not about earning your keep, it more about helping out and surviving" Piper said.

"Yeah, and don't think you won't help with demons still. I mean you are still our personal demonologist. And you are great at hand to hand combat, I should have you train me" Phoebe said.

"Yes, of course I'll train with you" Cole said "But that's hardly helping with the demons, I just meant I won't be going out with you to find them or anything."

"Cole, maybe you won't be going out on missions with us, but you will be able to help. And we are attacked here all the time, so you won't be able to avoid all the attacks, don't worry you'll still see plenty of action" Prue told him.

"Yeah, and believe me, bringing money is no small help either, is a huge one" Piper said.

"Well either way I'll be glad to contribute" Cole said.

"Boy, now you're making me look bad" Leo said.

"Sorry" Cole said, not sounding sorry.

"Don't worry honey, I just tell people you do pro bono work" Piper said jokingly.

"Ha ha, I can't help it if my job comes with crappy benefits" Leo joked.

"How true, and lousy bosses as well" Piper said.

"Here, here" Prue said.

"You should tell them to give you a raise" Piper joked.

"I really am sorry I don't contribute" Leo said apologetically.

"Don't worry about, I mean we need money, but you are doing more good where you are than you could at any paying job" Piper said.

"Yeah, I say Leo we be a team, see I'll get some high paying lawyer job that won't do any good in the world and you get a no paying job that does like ten times as much good and mixed together its basically the equivalent of two decently paying jobs that do plenty of good, so see, just view it as a team effort" Cole joked.

Piper gave him a smile of thanks and said "Well there we go."

"Still it would be nice not to have to worry so much about ends meeting" Prue said.

"I did not realize it was that bad" Phoebe said.

"Me either" Leo added.

Piper and Prue shared a sheepish look and said, "Well we did not want to worry you, but it would defiantly be nice to have more money coming in than going out" Prue said.

"You should have told me, I would have gotten a job" Phoebe said.

"No, that would mean you dropping out of college" Prue said.

"Well obviously, that is probably one of the main reason we are behind is paying for my college" Phoebe said.

"Phoebe, that kind of thing eventually pays for itself" Piper told her.

"You still should have told me" Phoebe said.

"Next time" Prue told her.

"Well with any luck, my being here will keep there from being a next time" Cole said.

"Yes, lets hope so" Prue said.

"Alrighty, enough depressing money talk, how about I go make us a fabulous celebration dinner to celebrate Cole's becoming human, there has been too much to deal with in the past few days, and we were all tired, but now we should celebrate" Piper offered.

"That's great; thanks" Phoebe said "I'll help."

"Yeah, me too" Prue said.

Leo and Cole looked at each other and nodded and Leo said speaking for them both "We'll help too, let's make it out first official family affair."

Phoebe grinned happily and said "Yep, I finally got my perfect family."

"Just wait, now that you've said that something is bound to come shake things up" Cole said.

"Don't be so negative Cole" Prue said.

"I'm not, I'm being realistic" Cole replied.

"Well tonight lets not be negative or realistic, lets just put all that stuff aside and be happy and positive tonight" Phoebe said.

"Alright" Cole said he gave her a kiss.

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Meanwhile elsewhere in San Francisco….

"Oh god what am I going to do?" Paige asked the sky desperately hoping for a miracle.

She started to cry, and sat on a park bench crying softly to herself. She sat there silently for a long time, staring at the sky as though asking for answers, but she did not seem to find any.

Finally she sighed and said "I need to pull it together; I have to find some way to get by. I certainly don't have any extra funds lying around and I need to find some way to live." She got up feeling the need to walk. "And I don't have anyone left to turn to, I'm all alone now. And I certainly won't be able to work too much longer… so where will I go?" Paige asked herself.

"Maybe its time I finally find my birth parents and beg for help, as humiliating as that might be, but I can't be selfish now, its not just my life on the line." She whispered to herself. "I'll do it for her, for her I'll forget my pride."


	2. Chapter 2

Paige sighed looking at her rapidly emptying checkbook, knowing her time was running out, but not knowing what she would do once it did. She did not have any fallback or other options. All her other resources were exhausted and there really was no longer anyone else in this world that she could count on or turn to, her biological family was her last chance.

But, her search for her biological family was getting nowhere. She had gone to the church where she had been found, but they hadn't had any real concrete information, only a blanket with the letter P. on it.

"I have to come up with a new plan for if I don't find them" Paige said to herself.

She got up and started to pace across the shabby studio apartment that she had rented. She walked back and forth, very quickly since there was very little space to cover. She stopped and went to the tiny kitchen and started putting dishes into the dishwasher, just to keep her hands busy.

"That's it; I can't deal with this right now. I've been on this insane crusade for weeks now, I need to just take a night off and relax. Maybe I'll call some friends and actually go out clubbing for a change" Paige said to herself.

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"May I be seen?" the oracle asked.

"Do you have any important information regarding the charmed ones for me?" the source asked.

"Of a sort" the oracle replied.

"Yes, tell me about it" the source ordered.

The oracle appeared and said "I've seen, someone new, someone important."

"What do you mean" the source asked.

"I've seen a girl, who will be of tremendous aid to the charmed ones and will come to mean much to them. But they haven't met yet. Her future is foggy and clouded with uncertainty" the oracle told him.

"Is she a witch?" the source asked.

"I know not, as I said it is foggy. She may be, but I haven't seen any sign of powers. All I have seen is the possibility of being important to the Charmed ones future, and in some futures I've seen, without her they die" the oracle told him.

"Well, this is good. Send for Shax; tell him I have a new assignment for him, one that must be carried out immediately. We must eliminate this girl before the charmed ones meet her and take her under their protection" the source said "You have done well, now be gone, but keep watch on this girl, and tell me anything you see."

"As you wish" the oracle said and disappeared in smoke.

"Yes, perhaps finally the end of the Charmed ones is near" the source said sounding pleased.

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Meanwhile at P3…

"It's so nice to just have you here and be able to relax, not always have to worry about what you might be doing or if you will come back" Phoebe said.

"So you've been saying, for the past few week" Cole said sarcastically.

"Well I just can't get totally used to it, I just keep expecting something to go wrong, because it always did before" Phoebe said.

"Stop worrying so much Phoebe" Piper said "Just be happy."

"I have to agree with Phoebe, it's nice to finally have Cole around all the time" Prue said.

Everyone looked at her odd and finally Piper said "Prue?"

"I just mean it's nice to not have to worry, and to see Phoebe always happy, not off sulking in the mausoleum or worrying somewhere. It's nice to have things almost normal" Prue said.

"You shouldn't say that" Piper said "Anytime someone says that then everything goes to hell."

"I'm with Piper on this" Cole said.

"Oh you two, stop being such worry warts" Phoebe said cheerfully.

"Yes, just enjoy it" Leo said.

"While it lasts" Piper said ominously.

"Oh you!" Leo said fondly "Even if that's true and danger is lurking on the horizon, then that's just all the more reason to enjoy your time now and not worry, to take advantage of this precious calm time."

"Yeah, I guess you're right, I just don't want to be too disappointed when everything starts to go downhill" Piper said.

"Just stop worrying" Leo said "At least for tonight, remember we are celebrating Cole's new job at Jackmen, Carter and Kline."

"That's true, sorry Cole" Piper said.

"Oh no worries, I was being negative with you" Cole said jokingly.

"But seriously Cole, congratulations, that's a terrific job" Prue said.

"You're just happy about the huge paycheck that comes with the job" Cole joked.

"Well that too" Prue joked back.

Phoebe smiled and said "I'm so glad to see you two getting along like…" she was interrupted by a girl with brown hair bumping into her. Phoebe gasped being thrown into a premonition '_the girl was standing on a rooftop and a demon, with pale bluish skin appeared in a swirl of wind and threw an energy ball at her'_ Phoebe gasped coming out of the premonition and falling to the ground. The girl who had brushed against her looked surprised but walked away when she saw Cole quickly move to get Phoebe up.

"That girl, where did she go?" Phoebe practically yelled.

"Phoebe, calm down, what did you see?" Prue asked.

"I saw that girl getting killed by a demon" Phoebe said.

"Alright, what did the demon look like" Prue asked.

"Well it had pale bluish skin and long hair, and it appeared in a swirl of wind" Phoebe said.

"Do you know what demon that is?" Prue asked Cole.

Cole had a horrified look on his face and said finally "Yes."

"Well, are you planning on telling us sometime?" Prue asked sarcastically.

"He's name is Shax, he's the sources personal assassin" Cole said.

This time it was Leo who looked horrified and said "Shax? That's not possible, not for just some random girl.'

"Well, maybe she's important" Prue said "either way we need to save her."

"You don't understand, he has killed countless witches who tried to vanquish him, he's incredibly strong and powerful" Leo said.

"Well, he's never run up against the power of three before, so maybe that will be the thing to finish him off" Prue said confidently.

Leo and Cole exchanged a Look and finally Leo said "I hope you are right, we better go check the book."

"Hey that's my line" Phoebe joked, but did not get a laugh out of either boy.

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"Will you stop worrying Leo, we have a power of three spell and the book said that would vanquish him" Prue said.

"Yeah I know, I'm just worried, I can't help it" Leo said.

"Well you just be ready to orb us all over there once we see the demon" Prue said.

"I will be" Leo said.

"Its times like this I miss being able to shimmer" Cole said.

"Now remember Cole, we only let you come on the condition that you stay out of the fighting" Phoebe said.

"Please try not to make me sound like a trained lap dog" Cole snapped irritated.

"I did not mean it like that" Phoebe said.

"We only let you come, you're right more like a slave than a dog. I'm my own person, you don't let me do anything, this relationship is supposed to be a partnership, that means you don't try to order me around" Cole snapped.

Piper, Prue and Leo looked awkward at being in the middle of this fight, and tried to move away to give them some tiny bit of privacy.

"Alright, I'm sorry, you're right. I just worry about you" Phoebe said.

"That excuse is only going to work so many times, and you have to let me live, I'm an action man, I can't be kept cooped up or on a leash, I need to be dong something" Cole said.

"Alright, but just try to be reasonable. Wanting to join in a fight with the sources assassin is not reasonable or smart" Phoebe said.

"Alright, I'll give you that. But just try to treat me like an equal" Cole said.

"Alright, so are we okay now?" Phoebe asked.

"Yes, no worries. I love you" Cole said.

"I love you too" Phoebe told him.

"Is it safe to come back to the window?" Prue asked.

"Yes, sorry about that" Phoebe said.

"No worries, you guys are dealing with a lot of new things, that is bound to cause some problems, we understand that" Piper said.

"Yes, and while we understand that, we need to put all that on hold and try to actually keep watch for the girl" Prue said.

"Is that her?" Leo asked from the window.

Phoebe quickly turned and looked. "Yep, that's her" she said.

"Aright, now all we need is a demon" Prue said. And just as if on command the demon appeared. Phoebe, Piper and Prue all rushed to get to Leo. But Piper and Prue managed to rush right into each other, and so Phoebe, Leo and Cole could only watch in horror as while Prue and Piper lay tangled on the ground an energy ball soured towards the girl. But just as it was about to reach her, she disappeared in a swirl of bright white lights.

Phoebe, Cole and Leo all looked at each other in shock.

"She orbed!" Phoebe exclaimed.

Leo looked shocked and he grabbed Phoebe's hand and leaned over and grabbed Piper and Prue and orbed out. Accidentally Cole was orbed with them, because he was still holding Phoebe's hand as Leo orbed out.

"Cole?" Phoebe yelled "What are you doing here?"

"You didn't let go of my hand" Cole exclaimed.

"Okay, deal with it later, now say the spell" Prue yelled.

Piper, Phoebe and Prue quickly recited the power of three spell and with a blinding flash the demon exploded. With that all five turned to look at the girl who had fainted.

"Well, what do we do now?" Piper asked.

"Is she a white lighter?" Phoebe asked.

"I don't know" Leo said answering both their questions. "I guess we should take her home and try to figure this mess out. We can't leave her here; first off she saw way too much of what you did. And secondly we need to figure out that orbing mystery."

"Are you sure she orbed?" Prue asked.

"Yes" Cole said "Looked like orbing to me."

"It looked like it to me too, and I would certainly know" Leo said.

"Alright then, you orb us all home and then go ask the elders if she's a white lighter" Phoebe said.

"Well of course she's a white lighter if she orbed" Prue said "How can you think otherwise?"

"Well, it's just that, when she orbed, she looked as surprised as we were" Phoebe said.

"Yeah, she did not seem to mean to do it or plan to, and she seemed really confused" Cole said.

"Well then, it definitely is a mystery, one that can be solved sooner if we get home" Prue said.

"Oh right" Leo said and grabbed on to Piper and Phoebe's hands. Phoebe held onto Cole, who was carrying the girl, and Piper held Prue's hands. And once they were all connected Leo orbed them out, muttering "Now I actually am a taxi for the whole family."

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Cole lay the girl down on the couch and said to Leo "Maybe you should try to heal her? That way we could get her to talk sooner."

"I like that idea" Prue said.

"Well, I can try. I don't actually think she is hurt though, she just fainted" Leo said.

Leo held his hands over the girl and they glowed brightly, but nothing happened. Finally he said "Just like I thought, nothing I can do."

"Well what you can't, smelling salts can" Phoebe said coming down the stairs holding a small bottle.

"Good idea" Prue said.

Phoebe waved the salts under the girl's nose, and she started to cough as she woke up.

"Ok Phoebes that's probably enough" Piper said.

Phoebe put the cap back on the bottle and sat back to wait for the girl to regain full consciousness.

Finally she opened her eyes and looked around. The expression on her face went from surprise, to shock, to worry. And then she slowly sat up. At this point she saw the five people sitting in front of her, all staring at her expectantly.

"Where am I" she croaked out.

"At our house" Phoebe said and held out a glass of water.

The girl took it and sipped it slowly, looking around as though looking for an escape route. Finally she said "What happened?"

"Well, you fainted. What's your name?" Prue asked.

The girl looked at her suspiciously and finally answered "My name is Paige."

"Well P. names are popular around here" Phoebe said cheerfully "I'm Phoebe, this is my older sister Piper, and my oldest sister Prue. Oh yeah and Piper's husband Leo and my boyfriend Cole."

Paige looked overwhelmed. And said "So why am I here? I'm betting I did not faint here."

"That is a true statement" Piper said "What do you remember?"

That got Paige to thinking. She said "I remember going up onto the rooftop, I needed some fresh air. And then I think some guy, I think he was a guy, appeared but he looked so strange, and it was as if he appeared out of no where. Honestly I think maybe I hit my head when I fainted because I'm remembering things that aren't possible. I swear I recall the guy being blue and shooting a ball of light at me, but for some reason it did not hit me, I think I disappeared, I must have really whacked my head on the ground to be remembering that."

"Umm" Phoebe exchanged a look with her sisters and they nodded at her giving her the go ahead "What would you say if I told you that you did not imagine all that?"

"I'd think you whacked your head too" Paige answered.

"Well, neither of us did, and you did see what you thought you saw. And you did disappear, and that's why you are here, because we want to know how." Phoebe said.

"What do you mean by disappear?" Paige asked.

"Well I mean... Leo why don't you show her?" Phoebe said.

Leo gave her an unhappy looked but did as asked and orbed out. Paige watched this and her mouth dropped, she looked like a fish out of water, completely out of her depth.

"What? What just happened?" Paige asked.

"Well, Leo orbed. That's what we call his moving like that, he can move anywhere in seconds. Leo is a type of guardian angel, a guardian angel for witches. We call them white lighters. And since you orbed out when the demon threw an energy ball we want to figure out how you were able to orb" Phoebe said.

"Did you say demon?" Paige asked.

"Well… yes, that was what that blue man was, and that's how he was able to throw an energy ball at you, that light ball you saw" Phoebe said.

"That's crazy, this is all crazy. Next you'll be telling me that you are witches" Paige said.

"Wow, way to guess. That would be true" Phoebe said.

"Excuse me? You think you're witches?" Paige asked in shock.

"We don't think we are witches, we are witches" Prue said.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure. Prove it" Paige said.

"Ok" Prue said and using her powers she moved the blanket covering Paige to the other side of the room and then astral projected herself to go get it and bring it back.

"Piper you want to show off your nifty new power?" Prue asked.

Piper looked hesitant but nodded and stood up.

"Ok, I'll throw a pillow up in the air and you blow it up, ok?" Phoebe said. Piper nodded again.

Phoebe threw a pillow up high and Piper threw out her hands and the pillow exploded into bits of fabric and fluff.

"Alright Phoebe, how about a little levitation?" Prue said.

"Ok" Phoebe said and with that levitated to the ceiling. And then she came back down.

"That proof enough for you?" Prue asked Paige smugly.

"That's not possible" Paige said.

"Well, we kinda just proved that it is" Prue said.

"I don't understand, what does this have to do with me?" Paige asked.

"Well, we don't totally know" Phoebe said "I also get premonitions, visions of the future and past. And I got one when you bumped into me at the club, I saw you being killed by that demon. And the plan was to kill the demon and get out. But your orbing kinda killed that plan, because we can't just leave you out and about with an untrained unknown power, it's dangerous for both you and others."

"So now you are claiming that I have powers too?" Paige said.

"Well it looks that way" Phoebe said.

"I don't believe that, I don't need this" Paige said.

Phoebe go up and sat on the edge of the couch that Paige was lying on, and said "We know how hard finding this out can be, and believe me we will help you" She put her arm around Paige to attempt to make her feel better. But no sooner had she touched Paige than she was thrown into another premonition, but this one appeared to be of the past. '_Patty walked into the attic carrying a baby, she was crying. "Oh Sam do we have to give our little baby up?" Patty sobbed. Sam looked heart broken. "Patty you know we must, it's against the rules, who knows what the elders would do if they found out we had a child. Its for her sake, to protect her, we have to do what's best for her" Sam said sadly. "You're right, but it kills me. Alright, let's go to the church" Patty told him still crying. Sam nodded and took her hand and they orbed out.'_

Phoebe was thrown out of the premonition and found she was crying from the emotions she had felt in her vision. She just stared blankly, not seeing anything, trying to process what she just saw. Finally she vaguely head someone yelled her name.

"Phoebe! Phoebe are you ok! What did you see?" Prue saw yelling.

Finally Phoebe said "I'm okay. I just had a vision of the past. Of mom."

"Of mom? How, or rather why? I mean you were touching Paige" Prue said.

Phoebe ignored Prue's questions and turned to Paige and said "Were you by any chance adopted?"

"How did you know that?' Paige said.

"Because, I just had a vision and I think that our mother is your mother" Phoebe said.

Dead silence filled the room and then voices erupted as simultaneously everyone seemed to need to say something.

"What! That's not possible!" Prue yelled.

At the same time Paige said "No, that can't be, I mean, no…"

Piper also added in saying "There's no way, we'd know."

Finally Leo yelled out "Enough! Lets let Phoebe tell us everything before we start off on all this."

"Thanks" Phoebe said. "Alright, so when I touched Paige I got a vision of mom in the attic, with Sam. She was holding a baby, and it was not one of us, I know, I've seen our baby pictures, and this baby couldn't have been more than a couple weeks old, maybe less. Anyway she was in the attic, and asking Sam if she had to give up their baby. And he said yes, that the elders would do bad things if they found out, that they had to think about what was best for their daughter. And mom agreed, but I was picking up so much pain from both of them, it was almost unbearable, I've never done that before. But that's not the point, so it ended with her saying they would take the baby to a church, and they orbed out."

The room was silent again until finally Paige said "I was found at a church, or rather given to a church to find a good home for me."

"God, it's almost believable. I mean if Sam was the father, than that would explain the orbing" Piper said.

"That's it; mom has a hell of a lot of explaining to do. And I say we call her right down here and ask her if it's true" Prue said.

"Can you do that?" Paige asked in shock.

"Yes, yes we can" Piper said, "But I'm not sure if we should."

"Well I'm going to, whether you join me is your choice" Prue said.

"Well I'm coming" Phoebe said and Cole nodded to indicate he'd come.

"Alright, I'll come, I mean I guess we have to find out for sure" Piper said and Leo nodded too.

Everyone looked at Paige who finally said "Sure, why not. I'd be interested to see you raise the dead, and besides I've been looking for my birth family for ages, so I can't pass up this possibility."

"We aren't raising the dead Paige, we are calling spirits" Phoebe said.

"Oh, well that's good, probably less disgusting" Paige said.

"Yes, very much less" Phoebe said, "And less evil, I think that raising the dead falls under the evil category."

"But you are witches; doesn't that automatically make you evil?" Paige asked.

"Why does everyone think that? No, we are not evil. In fact my sisters and I are the charmed ones, prophesized as the greatest force of good the world has ever seen. We are good witches and we follow a Wiccan reed 'and it harm none, do what ye will.' We don't do anything for personal gain, and we protect the innocent from evil. We are good witches, I mean oh yeah there are bad ones but those are called warlocks. But a witch is not automatically bad, power is just that, power. Its how you use it that makes you good or bad." Phoebe said.

"Wow, that was quite the lecture. And surprisingly deep, you feel really passionate about this don't you?" Paige asked.

"Oh yes, being a charmed one is one of the most important things in my life, the only thing more important is my family" Phoebe said.

"Hey!" Cole called out sounding offended.

"Baby, you are family" Phoebe said.

"Alright then, I guess that works" Cole joked.

"Alright, enough, lets go do this thing" Prue said and headed up to the attic.

"Where are we going?" Paige asked.

"To the attic, that's where we do anything magical, and where our book of shadows is kept" Phoebe said.

"Book of shadows? Is that like a book of spells?" Paige asked.

"Well yes, but its so much more. It's almost like a member of the family. Its been in our family since the beginning and everyone adds to it, and well, its considered the most valuable book of shadows around, all the demons want it" Phoebe said.

"Well how do you keep it then?" Paige asked.

"Well the book protects itself. It won't let evil touch it, and no one outside the family can take it out of the house" Phoebe said.

"Pretty smart book" Paige said.

"No, pretty magical book" Phoebe corrected.

"Would you two get a move on" Prue yelled down the stairs. "We are almost ready."

"Coming!" Phoebe yelled back. "We better hurry, its best not to keep Prue waiting."

Phoebe and Paige rushed up the stairs to the attic.

When they got there the candles were already set up, and Prue motioned Phoebe to come over. "Paige, you can go stand with Leo and Cole" Prue said.

Prue flipped through the book, looking for the right page. Today, there was no aid in finding the right page. Prue eventually found it and then she, Piper and Phoebe read out the spirit summoning spell.

And then, with a swirl of lights, suddenly there in front of them, completely transparent, was Patty, their mother.

"Girls, what's wrong?" Patty asked. "Is everything okay?" She looked around as though expecting danger, and then her eyes settled n Paige. "Paige" she exclaimed looking completely shocked.

"So it's true then" Prue stated coldly.

Patty looked completely at a loss of what to say or do and finally said "Girls… I…" and she trailed off.

"I think you have some explaining to do" Prue told her.

"Yes, I suppose I do" Patty said.

Prue gave her a look and said "Well…"


	3. Chapter 3

"Well girls, I just don't quite know where to start" Patty said stalling.

"I'd say that the beginning, since it appears that you've been lying to us since then" Prue sated.

"Prue, I know you're upset, and it's understandable, but please allow me to explain at least" Patty said.

"Yeah Prue, lets hear what she has to say first" Piper said.

"Alright then get on with it" Prue snapped, Piper and Phoebe looked at her shocked at how she was talking to their mom.

"Well, it started after your father and I were divorced, when I was with Sam. We did not plan on this obviously, it just happened, fate I guess. But we knew we couldn't keep the baby, it was too dangerous. I mean, before Piper and Leo, well white lighters just did not fall in love with their charges and never had children with them. The idea was beyond comprehension. We did not know what they would do when they found out, if they might take the baby, and we felt it was not worth the risk. That we couldn't be selfish and keep her here just because we loved her at the risk of them taking her away and doing who knows what. We thought that it would be best to let her have a normal, safe, life. That it would be in her best interest. We also were afraid that you girls would be denied your powers; it's the power of three, not four. And we were afraid of what might happen. We did not want to give up the baby, but it was for her sake, and yours, and also the greater good. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do." Patty told them.

"Okay would you stop referring to me as the baby, I have a name" Paige snapped.

"Of course, I'm so sorry Paige. Oh look at you, all grown up and finally coming back here. I always knew that you'd find your way back here. I'm so proud of you" Patty said.

"Well that's all just dandy, but that doesn't explain everything. How is it that we did not even know about her?" Prue asked.

"Well you were all young, you just thought that mommy got a little fat, it was less than a year before my death, so you were all very little" Patty said softly.

"And now what?" Phoebe asked.

"What do you mean?" Patty asked.

"Yeah, Phoebe is right" Prue said putting her arms around Piper and Phoebe's waists "We are the power of three, you said that yourself, we are the charmed ones, and what does that make her?"

"Yes, I mean we saw her orb" Phoebe said.

"Well, it makes her half witch and half white lighter. She's obviously not a charmed one, I mean if something ever happened to one of you, god forbid, she might be able to be one, but as it is, she is just half witch and half white lighter. She will be just like any other common witch and eventually probably take up white lighter duties too. Which is why you are not a charmed one Paige, because you are meant to be the first witch/white lighter, so don't ever think that that makes you less, it's just different, you have a great destiny ahead of you too. And most likely you'll be a great asset to your sisters in saving innocents" Patty said.

"I'm sorry, great help to us?" Prue said.

"Well yes, I mean she is your sister. You need to train her, help her with her powers, she will be a great witch with your help, and she will help you in your destiny" Patty said.

"Oh great I get to be a sidekick" Paige muttered.

Patty looked worried and said "Oh no it's not like that, you're not a sidekick, you are like any other witch. The charmed ones get aid from many others, you will just be like that. Believe me, you are like Leo, or even like Cole was…."

"Is! Thank you very much, I'm still here and still a help" Cole interrupted irritated.

"Yeah, Cole is just as much a help and as much a part of this family as Leo, and with him and Leo we are just fine" Prue said, clearly deciding it was worth being on Cole's side to upset her mother and to make her position clear.

Cole looked surprised and smiled at her, he and Leo both moved to stand behind the girls, so that Paige now stood alone, off to the side.

"Oh no, please, girls I understand you're angry with me, and that's fair, I deserve that, but please, don't take this out on Paige, she did not do anything to deserve that, Despite the circumstances, she is still your sister, and you can't just pretend like she's not. You may not know it, but you will need her. It's been foreseen, by several gifted individuals, elders, witches, seers and even a few gypsies" Patty told them.

"Hello, and no one thought to tell us about all these visions or prophecies?" Prue snapped.

"Its not like that, these people, that is all they do, they get visions of the future and they give that information to the elders, there are so many visions and things about everyone, some small and some huge, like the one about the coming of the charmed ones. They can't hardly give you all of them, since likely they get at least one a day about you" Patty said.

"Wonderful, so they sit up there happy as can be, knowing more about our lives than we do, that's just perfect" Prue said.

"Please girls, I know it's hard to see past what I did, but give Paige a chance, its essential to your future. She is important to your charmed duties, and if you can't make yourselves accept her based on sisterhood at least accept her based on that" Patty said.

"Looks like we don't have much of a choice" Phoebe said.

"Great, more things that are out of our control, wasn't that just what I had planned for today" Piper said.

"Well, the charmed one's always come first, but that's it, it's nothing more than that" Prue said.

"Ok hello, anyone remember that I'm still here, and officially freaking out. Who the hell says I want to be apart of this great destiny, or want you as sisters" Paige said.

"Well you clearly weren't listening, we never offered up sisterhood" Prue snapped.

"Prudence, that's enough, she is your sister, that is beyond your control and you need to just get over it and deal with it, now" Patty said in a stern tone.

"Ok now back to me, I don't know what this is all about, but I'm outta here" Paige said turning to leave.

"You can't, weren't you there last night? Without your powers under control, when another demon comes back you will die, you can't fight them, and clearly they are after you, and you specifically. That was the sources assassin, that means you are targeted for a reason, it's not safe for you to go" Phoebe said.

"She was probably targeted because someone on the evil side of things got the same vision that our side got" Piper said.

"Great, that's just great" Paige said "You just barge in here and take over my life, that's great."

"It's hardly our fault, and it's not like we want this any more than you do" Prue snapped.

"Alright enough, mom's right. It's not Paige's fault that she is our sister, and like it or not, she is our sister, so she deserves to at least have a chance. If you must rant Prue, rant at mother, she's the bad guy here not Paige, so ease off" Phoebe said.

Paige shot her a grateful look. And Piper turned and smiled at her and said "Yes, Prue, its not like she chose this either, and apparently we need her around, and she seems to need our protection. She first off she is an innocent, so you can't keep picking on her, and second she will be an ally, so we need to have some kind of civil relationship with her. And that's not even bringing in the sister thing, which we will have to talk about and deal with later."

"Alright, okay" Prue said but tightened her hold on her sisters in a possessive way, clearly making a statement towards Paige.

"So now what?" Paige said.

"Well now you learn you learn the ways of magic, the rules, and you work on creating a bond between you" Patty said sounding pleased.

"Enough with the bond stuff, I think that we have talked to you enough" Prue said, and she leaned over to blow out a candle.

"I'm sorry my darlings, I never meant to hurt you and I only did what I thought was best for you" Patty said as she faded away.

"Well now that she is gone, what do we do?" Piper asked.

"Well why don't you girls go downstairs and talk" Leo suggested.

"No Leo, we are not going to have a bonding session, we need to discuss training Paige and how to protect her" Prue said.

"Well for the time being, with the source on the loose and after you, you will have a hard time protecting her when she lives far off" Leo said.

"Well what are you suggesting that she moves in?" Phoebe asked.

"Well actually, yes. It would be convenient, I mean to train her and protect her, what better way, that way she'd be safe" Leo said.

"Excuse me? You want her to live here with us? Isn't that just putting her in more danger?" Piper asked.

"Hardly, I think it's safer. Because otherwise one of you would have to always be watching over there and you would be separated and unable to say a power of three spell, you're safer if you are together" Leo said.

Prue exchanged a looked with Piper and Phoebe. And said "Alright, lets have a family conference or something, Paige wait here please, we'll be right back" With that Piper, Phoebe and Leo hurried down the stairs, Prue followed after them, then looked back and said "Cole, aren't you coming?"

Cole looked surprised and then nodded and came after her saying softly once he reached her "I wasn't sure if I was meant to, not being family after all."

"Compared to her, you're practically my twin in my mind" Prue muttered.

Cole laughed and said "Well I have a feeling we are the only ones on that side."

"Wait, you're on my side on this?" Prue said surprised.

"Of course, we don't know if she's even trustworthy, and as if we aren't under attack enough, let bring in someone else designed to attract even more trouble, I hardly think that's the worlds best plan" Cole said.

"My thoughts exactly, well at least I'll have someone voting with me, but its still in their favor, three to two" Prue said.

"Well we will just have to convince them that we are right" Cole said.

"Okay, you work on Phoebe, I'll work on Piper, I think Leo is a lost cause" Prue said.

"I think Piper is the one we have the best chance with, Phoebe is way to happy about the idea of a younger sister, so I'm not sure I can convince her, but I'll sure as hell try" Cole said.

"Alright, lets go" Prue said and they started down the second flight of stairs.

"There you two are, I was beginning to think you'd gotten lost" Phoebe said.

"Hardly, I just had to remind Cole that she was the one that is not family, not him" Prue said.

"I'm not sure how to take that, I mean I'm thrilled that all this has made you see Cole as family, but I think you're being unfair to Paige" Phoebe said.

"Yeah Prue, she is apparently our sister, we ought to give her a chance of something" Piper said.

"Even if that's true, it's hardly a reason to have her move in, I mean we need to get to know her slowly, to build a bond, and having her here wouldn't do that" Prue said.

"Nice try Prue, but somehow I don't think bonding with her is foremost on your mind" Phoebe said jokingly.

"I don't think you are taking this seriously enough Phoebe, we have no reason to trust her, we don't know her. Inviting her here with no knowledge of her background and motives is just suicide; she could be a killer and kill us in our sleep. She could be spying on us, or any number of other horrible things" Cole said.

"No she can't, she's a white lighter after all" Phoebe said.

"She was born with white lighter powers, she's not an actual white lighter, she hasn't had to do good deeds to earn them, she just has them, it has nothing to do with her goodness or evilness, its just a power with her" Cole said.

Prue looked pleased at his saying that and said "yes, we don't even know if it's really her, I mean it could just be a shape shifter that stole her powers, it could be anything."

"Ok paranoid much" Phoebe said.

"Prue we shouldn't just suspect her of evil, that's not fair" Piper said.

"We shouldn't just suspect her of evil? Where the hell have you been the last three years, of course we should suspect her of evil, half the people who come into our lives are evil and plotting to get us" Prue said.

"Well mom vouched for her, so that's enough for me" Phoebe said.

Prue looked stumped on how to respond to that.

"Well why don't we vote on whether or not she should stay here" Leo said.

Prue and Cole shared a worried look and then Cole had a look of inspiration and said "But where? I mean where are you planning to put her? They way you make this sound, its not going to be a short visit, so what will you do with her?"

"Well…" Piper trailed off and then said "We will set up an air mattress in the basement."

"But we use the basement as a training area, and with the source out there we need to train" Cole said.

"Well the mattress won't take up too much room, so don't worry" Piper said.

"Alright she lets vote" Leo said.

"Why bother, we know that you, Piper and Phoebe are gonna vote for her so lets skip it and just tell her that she can't leave" Prue said in a depressed voice.

"Oh come on, it won't be that bad" Phoebe said.

"Yeah sure, we'll see" Prue said skeptically.


	4. Chapter 4

"Alright, we've come to a decision. For your protection, we have decided that you need to move in here with us, until we can find out why the source is after you" Prue told Paige.

"Excuse me? You can't just come in here and decide to start dictating my life" Paige said momentarily forgetting that her purpose behind looking for her family was to get help like this.

"Look, if you really have a death wish, then okay go right ahead. I did not want you here in the first place. However if you actually want to keep your life then I'd say you should accept our help, we've been dealing with demons a lot longer than you" Prue said.

"Prue be nice" Phoebe said.

"Why? I'm not gonna sugar coat things for her, I'm just gonna tell her the truth straight out" Prue said.

"Alright" Paige said surprising them.

"Alright?" Phoebe asked.

"Yeah, alright I'll move in with you guys. I mean I was looking for my birth family, and apparently you guys are it, so I guess I ought to take the opportunity to get to know you. I mean, I can see that you guys aren't totally thrilled about this, and hell, I'm not even sure that I'm even totally thrilled anymore. But all the same, its appears that you guys are the family I was looking for, and since I no longer have any other family, I guess I shouldn't let this chance to have some kind of family again pass me by" Paige said.

"You don't have any other family?" Piper asked.

"Well my parents died when I was in high school, and my uncle, who I lived with after that, recently passed away from cancer" Paige said.

"Oh I'm so sorry" Piper said.

"Yeah, well me too, but I mean its not all bad. It would seem I'm getting another chance in the family department" Paige said.

Phoebe beamed, clearly pleased. She kept grinning and said "Alrighty then. So let's get you moved in. Hows about you go get your stuff and such and we'll set up the place for you to sleep."

"Alright, why don't I come back in the morning, that gives us all a little time to sort things out" Paige offered.

"That sounds good, we'll see you then" Piper said.

"Great" Paige said and turned, rather quickly, and went out the attic door.

"Isn't one of you going to walk her to the door?" Leo asked.

"No, we have things to talk about, I'm sure she can manage to find the door all by herself" Prue snapped.

"I wouldn't give her too much credit upfront like that" Cole muttered.

Prue laughed in a sarcastic way and shared a cold grin with Cole.

"Alright you two, as much as I like seeing you two getting along and seeming to form some kind of relationship, I don't want it to be at Paige's expense. You two need to not gang up on her, this is not her fault, and I don't think she's any happier about this all happening than we are" Phoebe said.

"You seem pretty happy about it" Prue snapped at her.

"Well, kinda. I mean, she's our sister, that's a good thing. I mean its bad how we found out and all the circumstances surrounding this all, but that we have a sister is not a bad thing outright. We should at least give her a chance, who knows, we might come to love her too sometime" Phoebe said.

"I doubt it" Prue replied.

"I second that" Cole said.

"Phoebes I'm with you on giving her a chance, but don't totally throw your heart into this one, who knows what's gonna happen" Piper said.

"I thought you were with me on this" Phoebe said.

"I'm not totally; I'm just not with Prue and Cole on the whole hating her thing. I'm willing to give her a chance, and that's it, I'm not holding any expectations about her. There have been too many times when this kind of thing has turned out bad. Too many times people we thought were friends turn out to be trying to kill us" Piper said.

"Hey!" Cole said.

"Well I did not actually mean you, but it is true that you were. But what I mean is, don't get too attached too quickly, because that will make it a lot harder to vanquish her if it becomes necessary" Piper said.

"Well I think Phoebe has the right attitude about this all, I mean I hardly see how any of you can see this as bad, you guys get to have a new sister, that's good" Leo said.

"Well I guess we've all stated our opinions, and now the battle lines are drawn" Prue said.

"Lets not make this into a battle; we each have the right to our own opinions. So for now let's just get things ready for her" Piper said.

"Ever the middle sister. Somehow, even with Paige now being the youngest, I think you're always gonna be the middle sister" Phoebe said.

"Great" Piper replied.

"Well I'm not gonna be involved in the whole getting things ready for her thing" Prue said.

"Alright, then Cole and I will go shopping and get some things to set up downstairs" Phoebe said.

"And I will go grocery shopping, and will make a feast to welcome her tomorrow, and yes before you ask, you do have to come Prue, and you too Cole" Piper said.

"Great" Cole said.

"Fabulous, just what I wanted' Prue muttered.

"And how come I have to come shopping?" Cole asked.

"Because I said so" Phoebe told him.

"Wonderful, this day just gets better and better" Cole said.

"Tell me about it" Prue replied.

"Oh you two! Come on Cole, lets go" Phoebe said.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming" Cole told her.

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"Alright, do you think we should get the queen size air mattress?" Phoebe said.

"Yeah sure, whatever you want" Cole replied.

"Gee thanks for the help. Actually I was thinking that maybe we should get her a real mattress, I mean who knows how long she will be here" Phoebe said.

"Ok, if that's what you want" Cole said.

"It is! Anyway let's look over what we have already. We have a wooden folding screen, to separate her part of the basement. We have a large white rug, which should cover the whole area we plan to give her. We have a white stand up lamp. And last but not least a small white set of drawers. Do you think we got everything?" Phoebe asked.

"Yes, sounds about right, and we can stop by that mattress store on the way home" Cole said.

"Well actually, while we are out, maybe we should pick up a few things for you too" Phoebe said.

"Like what?" Cole asked.

"Well like, umm, clothes, and guy stuff. I dunno, anything that you need" Phoebe replied.

"Some other time, I think that we should get home" Cole said.

"I love it when you call it that" Phoebe said.

"What?" Cole asked.

"I love it when you call it home" Phoebe told him.

"Oh, I did not even realize I was doing that" Cole said.

"Good, that means that it just feels like home" Phoebe said.

"Of course it does, you live there. Anywhere you are is home enough for me" Cole said.

Phoebe smiled and leaned up to kiss him. And then said "You say the sweetest things."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'll be more careful from now on" Cole said.

"Don't you dare!" Phoebe replied.

Cole just grinned at her and said "Alright, let's go."

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"Alright, how soon do you think she'll get here?" Phoebe asked in an excited voice.

"Well, like I told you, ten times already, I don't know!" Cole told her.

"Oh I'm so excited!" Phoebe exclaimed.

"Gee, really, I'd never have guessed" Cole muttered.

"Well I wish she'd get here already" Prue said.

Cole gave her a look of disbelief and said "What?"

"I mean, I just want to get this over with, and I want to have Phoebe stop acting like a kid on Christmas" Prue said.

"Ahh, that makes more sense. For a second I was afraid you'd suddenly decided to like her" Cole said.

"Oh stop it you two, now no talking like that in front of her, actually no talking like that at all. Try to be nice, please?" Phoebe asked.

"Oh all right, I'll try" Cole said.

"Me too" Prue said grudgingly.

"Good, because I'm sure she is already nervous, and Piper's put so much effort into her huge brunch of hers. I think she's actually made three types of muffins. Not to mention, danishes, cinnamon rolls, bacon, sausage, hash browns, hand squeezed orange juice, and a huge fruit tray" Phoebe said.

Prue rolled her eyes and said "If you ask me…"

"Well I didn't" Phoebe said interrupting her.

Just then the doorbell rang. Phoebe's eyes lit up. She grinned and yelled out "She's here!"

"Oh goodie" Prue muttered.

"Oh how I wish I had the ability to shimmer out of here" Cole said longingly.

"You want your demonic powers back?" Prue said suspiciously.

"No, I just want to be out of here" Cole said.

Prue laughed and said "Yeah me too, but I think they would kill us, so… here goes nothing."

Cole sighed and said "yep, here goes nothing."

They walked towards the door, where they could here Phoebe chattering away. They walked in to see a very hyper and excited Phoebe, and a very scared looking Paige.

"Alright, honey, I think you're scaring her" Cole told Phoebe.

"Oh no I'm not" Phoebe said cheerfully.

"So is that all your stuff?" Prue asked.

"Yep, that's everything" Paige told her.

"Well great. We've got a little place all set up for you in the basement, why don't we get you all set up. Now where's Leo? I want him to help carry some stuff" Phoebe asked.

"I think he's in the kitchen" Prue said.

"Leo!" Phoebe yelled.

"What?" Leo asked walking in.

"Come help with Paige's stuff, you too Cole. Carry it downstairs will you?" Phoebe asked.

"Was that like an optional question?" Cole asked. Phoebe glared at him and he said quickly "Okay, guess not."

"Thanks, I really appreciate it" Paige said.

"Anytime" Leo said.

Cole rolled his eyes and said "Alright, let's get a move on."

"Yeah, Pipers gonna throw a fit if we let her food get cold" Leo said.

"Heaven forbid" Cole joked.

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"Are you all set up down there?" Phoebe yelled down the stairs.

"Yes, actually I just finished up" Paige yelled back.

"Great!" Phoebe said and bounded down the stairs.

"Well, ta da!" Paige said.

"Wow! This place looks great!" Phoebe said.

"Yeah, thanks. I mean, you guys went to a lot of work to set it up for me, all I did was add the finishing touches" Paige said.

"Nonsense, we just put the basics, you personalized it. And quite beautifully might I add" Phoebe said.

"Well thanks" Paige said.

"Anytime" Phoebe told her.

"Its funny, I've always been an only child, this is all a little overwhelming for me" Paige told her.

"Yeah, I understand, I mean I don't, but I empathize with you" Phoebe told her.

"Thanks, I'm glad at least one of you does" Paige said.

"What do you mean?" Phoebe asked.

"Well, you seem to be the only one that wants me here, well and maybe Leo" Paige said.

"That's not true" Phoebe exclaimed.

Paige gave her a look and said "Isn't it?"

"Well… I mean, Piper, kinda wants you…its just Prue and Cole, well they are over protective" Phoebe said.

"What do you mean?" Paige asked.

"Well, it's just that we've lost a lot of people in out lives and a lot of people who come into our lives mean us harm. People we think we know and trust turn out to be untrustworthy, and even worse, usually out to kill us. So, well, Prue just doesn't let people into her heart easily, and she worries about us. Our mother died when we were really young, and Prue practically raised us, so she's very overprotective. And Cole, well he's just the whole knight in shining armor type, he would die to protect me, and that leads to over protection. Piper wants you, or rather she wants to give you a chance, she's been burned a lot too, but not so bad as Prue, so she is still willing to give you a chance. And Leo, well he's all for your being here, so he's your other firm ally. I want you here; I'm thrilled to have you here. And the others, well you'll just have to give them time, they'll come around" Phoebe said.

"I hope your right" Paige said.


	5. Chapter 5

"Leo, would you stop avoiding me!" Piper yelled.

"Why should I? So that I can give you the opportunity to tell me what a horrible husband I am, no wait you already did. So you can tell me I'm a traitor to the family, wait you did that too. So you can kick me out of the bed room, wait that ones done too. So what more could you possibly want" Leo yelled back.

"To talk! Why are you being like this, you act like you don't want to make up" Piper said.

"That's not true, but you never give me the chance these days" Leo said.

"Well I just find this whole new situation to be unsettling. Nothing is the way is should be, everything's out of place. Prue was right when she said it was to be a battle, and now even I have gotten dragged in. And everyone is at each others throats. Even Cole and Phoebe are fighting. And Paige and Prue keep fighting and Prue and Phoebe fight, and anytime I try to get everyone to calm down they fight with me" Piper said sounding defeated.

"I know honey, but you just aren't being open minded. You need to give Paige more of a chance" Leo told her.

"Leo, you are making things so much more difficult for me! You are supposed to be my husband, and on my side. I'm supposed to be able to count on you! But no, you feel the need to side with Paige on everything and pay attention to Paige, what the hell is up with that!" Piper said.

Leo sighed and said "Piper…"

"I'm not done" Piper said interrupting him "You yell about all these things I've done to you, but you ignore what you've done to me! You chose some new sister over me! Your wife! You make no effort to make up or apologize to me. Hell, you've made yourself quite comfortable living in the living room on the couch and seem fine with situation."

"Yes well, I'm getting used to the couch, it's kinda comfortable. And well, while Cole and I may be on different sides of the battle concerning Paige, we are allied on the battle against our Halliwell women, we've started to bond with both of us living on the couches" Leo said.

"Well gee, I'm just so happy for you, that you'd rather talk with and bond with Cole than with me" Piper snapped.

"That's not what I meant. I just meant that it's nice to actually have someone who understands my side of things here. And that… oh I don't know" Leo said.

"Forget it, you're friendship with Cole is not the problem right now, its you friendship with Paige that is, and your picking her over me!" Piper snapped.

"I'm sorry you feel that way, I am, but things are complicated right now. Its nothing personal, I did not mean to get on your bad side, I did not think this would become so much of a problem. I'm not picking Paige over you, not really. I'm trying to be neutral. And playing the neutral white lighter has become a hazard lately, everyone is mad at me. I think I'd breakdown if something seriously came between us too" Leo said.

"You don't consider the current situation to be something serious!" Piper yelled.

"Well to a degree, but I know that I love you still and that we will get through this. I know, that with time, and probably a lot of talking, we will get though this and make up, it's just a temporary setback. So try to remember that I love you, this is not personal, its just about being a neutral white lighter. You know that part of the elders allowing us to marry was with the understanding that I'd put my job first. So really I'm doing this, siding with Paige, so that I'm putting my job first and can stay married to you." Leo said.

"Well great, you're making all this effort to stay married to me, but it won't do much good if, you have in the process, pushed me away to the point where we don't have a marriage at all" Piper said and turned toward the door as she heard a knock.

"Ah, saved by the bell I guess" Leo said.

"Oh no, we are so not finished, we will finish this conversation" Piper snapped.

"Wonderful, I'm so looking forward to it" Leo said.

"You are not putting this off" Piper said.

"Oh no, I won't, not that it would make any difference. These days everything goes wrong between us, so what more could possibly happen to make it worse in the time that I have to wait to talk" Leo snapped back. He turned and glared at the door as the bell rang.

"Ah, guess I better go get that" Piper said and opened the door.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me! As if things we're bad enough around here, great, this is just what we needed" Leo yelled and stormed off.

Piper stayed still, still staring at the figure in the doorway. Finally she said softly "Dan."

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"I've got to tell them, I've got to tell them" Paige said to herself, pacing in the basement.

She picked up a pillow and hurled it at the wall.

"Dammit, why does this have to be so hard? I always thought that once I had my family, I'd be the one mad, that they'd have to earn my forgiveness, I did not think they wouldn't want me and that I'd start a family war! And now one sister hates me, another doesn't trust me, and the last sees me as a project or something, but at least she wants me here. And one of the guys wants me here and the other wants me in hell. This is just not the family I envisioned. So how can I tell them? But how can I not? Pretty soon it will be out of my hands, and then if I haven't told them by then they will hate me more, if that's even possible. But how can I tell them?" Paige asked herself.

"Tell them what?" came a voice from behind her.

Paige jumped and turned around quickly. Her face showed horror at what she saw and she said softly "Oh no, Cole. What are you doing here?"

"Excuse me? This is not just your room you know, this is also the training room and you did not answer my question" Cole said.

"Training room, oh right, I forgot" Paige said.

"You are avoiding my question" Cole snapped.

"Um, what question was that again?" Paige asked.

Cole looked pissed and snapped "What is it you're not telling us?"

"Oh, that, it's nothing, really. I mean nothing to worry about, it's just a personal thing, long story and all" Paige said.

"Well, I've got time" Cole said.

"Oh no, really, it is not anything to worry about, nothing that would interest you" Paige said.

"You'd be surprised at what would interest me, so try me" Cole said.

"I…can't" Paige said.

"Oh yes, you can and you will" Cole said.

"I'm pregnant" Paige blurted out and looked horrified as soon as the words slipped past her lips.

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"Dammit Prue you haven't given her a chance at all!" Phoebe yelled.

Prue turned another page in the book of shadows and ignored her.

"It's not her fault that this all happened, she's not behind this and it's not fair you're being mad at her" Phoebe yelled.

"Oh just shut up, I'm so tired of all you're lecturing, I'm the oldest, I don't need life lessons from you" Prue said.

"Well clearly you do actually" Phoebe said.

"Oh give me a break Phoebe, you've been at this for days, what do you possibly think you can say now that you haven't said ten times, and since it did not work then , you can bet it won't now" Prue told her.

"Alright, then answer me one thing, and I'll let it go" Phoebe said.

"Fine, anything to shut you up" Prue said.

"Why don't you like her" Phoebe asked.

Prue froze and bit her lip. Finally she said "I don't not like her, I just don't want her around.'

"Yes but why?" Phoebe asked.

"Can't you see! She is messing up our family! We were finally doing well; the power of three was strong. Cole was human, and had a good job. The money situation was finally fine, the club was starting to do well, and Leo and Piper were doing well. Did they tell you they were thinking about having kids? But now, everything's a mess. Piper and Leo won't be having kids anytime soon that's for sure, they fight all the time, and so do you and Cole and so do the three of us. It's all a mess! Our family had finally gotten on track and we were happy! Happy, do you hear me, we were really truly happy! But now, we're a mess, and it's all her fault" Prue said sadly.

"Oh Prue, I understand, I do. I mean, I can see where you are coming from. And I admit, I've wondered once or twice if things wouldn't have been better if we hadn't met her, but that's not fair. Because it's not really her fault, she hasn't done anything. We came into her life and took it over, not the other way around, and it's not fair to blame her. Go ahead and blame mom, or evil, or even our stupid destiny, but not her, it's not fair to her" Phoebe said.

"I don't know, I mean I know that makes sense, but still. Maybe if she left things would get better" Prue said almost pleadingly.

"I don't think so; it's too late to put the genie back in the bottle. What's done is done and we, or rather you, need to start accepting that and dealing with it" Phoebe told her.

"I know, but it's hard. And now that things are so bad, I don't know how to fix it" Prue said.

"You don't know how… or you won't, or rather your pride won't let you" Phoebe said.

"I don't know, even if that's true, we have no reason to trust her" Prue said.

"Prue, we have to trust someone sometime, or else we'll go insane" Phoebe told her.

"I'm not so sure about that" Prue said.

"Well look at Cole, logic and reason says I never should have trusted him, but I did and it changed everything. If I hadn't, most likely he would have killed us, and he wouldn't be good now. So a little trust and love can change anything" Phoebe said.

"Oh Phoebe, how have you remained so optimistic and good hearted, even with all the evil we see" Prue asked.

"Well, I see all the good stuff too. Like I see all the good in Paige, good that you haven't even looked for. Which is very much there by the way, you just need to give her a chance in order to see it" Phoebe told her.

"Alright, alright. I get it, I'm not promising anything, but I'll attempt to give her somewhat more of a try than I have in the past, okay?" Prue asked.

"Okay, that's all I ask" Phoebe said.

They both smiled and Prue reached over and hugged her and said "So are we finally okay then?"

"Yes, we're good" Phoebe replied.

"Good" Prue said.

They both turned towards the door as they heard Piper's voice yell out from downstairs, in a very strange voice "Prue! Phoebe!" and seconds later, slightly fainter, they heard Cole's voice yell "Phoebe! Prue! Piper!"

"Well, I think its good that we've made up, because it looks like we have other issues to deal with" Prue said.

Phoebe gave her a resigned look and grabbed her hand and they ran out the attic door.


	6. Chapter 6

"Dan…. What are you doing here?" Piper asked.

"Well, I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd drop by and say hello" Dan said.

"But what were you doing in the neighborhood?" Piper asked.

"Well, actually I was moving back in" Dan said.

"What!" Piper exclaimed

"Yep, my company relocated and so here I am" Dan said.

"Well where are you living?" Piper asked.

"Well, next door of course" Dan replied.

"But I thought you sold that place?" Piper said.

"Nope, actually I was just renting it out, I did not have time to sell it, so I just rented it out. And now I'm moving back in, I hope that's not a problem" Dan said.

"Oh no, no problem, I'm just surprised is all" Piper said.

"Oh good. So how's life treating you?" Dan asked.

"Oh… umm well, we're kinda in a transitional period right now" Piper said.

"Yeah, I saw you and Leo fighting, everything okay there?" Dan asked.

"Oh, ya… umm things are fine, we're just a little stressed out with a lot of other things going on in our lives. We've kinda put our marital issues on the backburner lately, so we just need to sort those out" Piper told him.

"Marital issues?" Dan questioned.

"Oh yeah, Leo and I are married" Piper told him.

"Oh… congratulations" Dan said half heartedly.

"Thanks…" Piper trailed off.

"Umm its looks like a very happy marriage" Dan said.

"Oh, it is, we're just having a rough patch. No worries" Piper said.

"Oh good" Dan said.

"So what about you... married?" Piper asked.

"No" Dan said.

"Oh, well that's too bad" Piper said.

"Yes, guess I haven't found anyone that can top you" Dan said and blushed.

"Oh, well… I'm sure you will" Piper said.

"I doubt it" Dan replied.

"Oh I'm sure you will" Piper repeated.

"Umm sure, anyway where is everyone?" Dan asked.

"Oh, Prue and Phoebe are upstairs, hold on a sec I'll call them down" Piper said.

"Okay" Dan said.

"Prue! Phoebe!" Piper yelled up the stairs.

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"Alright, who do we deal with first?" Phoebe asked.

"Umm Piper, she only wanted you and me, and Cole wanted all three of us. So we'll deal with Piper and then drag her down to Cole and deal with that" Prue said.

"It's a plan" Phoebe agreed.

"Okay, here goes nothing" Prue said.

"Prepare for the worst" Phoebe said.

"Yep" Prue agreed. And they walked into the entry.

"Oh my god, Dan!" Phoebe exclaimed.

"Phoebe! You look great" Dan said giving her a hug.

"You too" Phoebe said.

"And Prue, you look fantastic too" Dan said and hugged her as well.

"Thanks, its great to see you" Prue said.

"Yes, its great seeing you guys again too" Dan said.

"So to what do we owe the pleasure?" Prue asked.

"Well, I'm moving back in next door" Dan said.

"Oh, wow, that's a surprise, I thought you sold that place" Prue stated.

"Nope, just rented it to someone" Dan said.

Phoebe smiled and said "Well it will be great to have you around again and…"

"Phoebe you will not believe what Paige has done now!" Cole yelled storming up the stairs "She's pregnant!... Oh we have company" Cole trialed off awkwardly.

"What!" Prue screamed.

"Wow, that's so great!" Phoebe said.

"Are you sure?" Piper asked.

"Yes, she told me" Cole snapped.

"I'm going to be an aunt" Phoebe said happily.

Paige rushed up the stairs looking embarrassed and annoyed. "Did you have to just announce it like that?" Paige asked.

"Well he shouldn't have had to, you should have told us" Prue said.

"I was going to, I just hadn't found a way" Paige said.

"Dan, umm meet our other sister Paige" Piper said awkwardly.

"Other sister?" Dan questioned.

"Our half sister, who our mother gave up for adoption, and who we just recently found out about" Piper explained.

"Oh, nice to meet you Paige" Dan said.

"And this is Cole, my boyfriend" Phoebe said proudly.

"Great to meet you" Dan said.

"Yes, you too" Cole said.

"Well, okay now that the whole introductions are done, lets get back to this whole pregnancy thing" Prue said.

"Look, I was going to tell you, I just was not sure how to, I knew you'd be upset" Paige said.

"Well obviously, you are too young" Prue said.

"Well, I don't care, I'm keeping the baby" Paige said.

"I did not say not to. So who is the father?" Prue asked.

"Well, my on again off again boyfriend Glenn" Paige said.

"Does he know?" Piper asked.

"No, by the time I knew, he was out of the country on another adventure" Paige said.

"Umm I think I'll just go" Dan said.

"Oh Dan, I'm so sorry about this" Piper said.

"No problem, I'm moving in next door, so we can catch up later" Dan said and left.

"Did I just hear that he's moving in next door?" Leo yelled walking in.

"Yes, but we've got bigger issues. Apparently Paige is pregnant" Prue said.

"Oh, congratulations" Leo said.

"Thanks" Paige replied.

"I can't believe you hid this from us" Piper yelled.

"Yes, you shouldn't have hid something this huge from us" Prue snapped.

"Alright, why don't we talk about this later once we've all calmed down" Phoebe said.

"Fine" Prue said and stalked off.

"Maybe Leo, you and Cole could go get some groceries, there is a list on the fridge" Phoebe said.

"Fine" Cole said and he and Leo walked off.

"And Paige, why don't you go take a nap or something. You haven't been getting enough sleep lately, and it can't be good for the baby" Phoebe said.

"Alright okay, I'll go" Paige said and headed downstairs.

"And Piper, you…. Honey what's wrong" Phoebe asked seeing that Piper looked near tears.

"Why? Why does she get a baby, she doesn't even want one, and was not trying… why does she get a baby and I don't?" Piper asked and started to cry.

"Oh honey" Phoebe said and hugged her.

"It's just not fair" Piper said.

"I know, but you will get a baby, I know it. Just wait, I'm sure pretty soon, we'll be celebrating you getting pregnant" Phoebe said.

"I doubt it. It's just not fair" Piper sobbed.

"I know honey, I know" Phoebe said sadly.

"I would be a great mom, I know it" Piper said.

"I know honey" Phoebe said.

"I don't understand why I'm not being allowed that chance" Piper said.

"I don't know hun" Phoebe said.

"It's just not fair, why does the universe have to do everything in its power to make us unhappy?" Piper asked.

"I don't know sweetie, but I know that it will get better" Phoebe said.

"Am I asking so much?" Piper asked.

"No sweetie" Phoebe said.

"I just don't understand why things would turn out this way" Piper said.

"I don't know honey" Phoebe told her.

"It's so unfair" Piper said crying.

"I know" Phoebe said sadly.


	7. Chapter 7

"So Paige, now that it's out, why don't you explain about this baby a bit more" Piper said.

"I don't know what there is to tell" Paige said.

"Well, anything, due date, and so on" Piper said.

"Well, obviously, I'm no where near due, I'm only one month along" Paige said.

"Oh, well have you seen a doctor or anything?" Piper asked.

"No" Paige said in an awkward voice.

"What! Why not" Phoebe asked.

"Well, ummm…" Paige trailed off.

"Ummm what?" Prue questioned.

"Well I couldn't afford to" Paige finally said.

"What?" Phoebe said.

"Well, I kinda haven't been completely honest with you guys" Paige said.

"I knew it" Cole exclaimed.

"Cole! Enough" Phoebe said.

"Sorry" Cole said.

"Anyways continue" Phoebe said.

"I don't know what to say, I told you my uncle just died, but that's not the whole story. See I ended up having to quit my job to take care of him, and well all the medical bills started piling up. And then he died and all the debt came down on me, and I was left with basically nothing and no one else to turn to. The father of the baby, Glen, he is out of the country on another trek through the wilderness and I can't get a hold of him, and I don't know when he'll be back. So I had nothing, which is why I decided to start looking for my biological family. I figured it was kinda my last hope, and that I could guilt my biological mother into helping me out. I never figured she'd be dead, and I'd end up a witch, and that I'd be the one having to prove myself. I thought you all would have to be working for my forgiveness" Paige said.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Phoebe asked.

"I guess I was afraid to. Like I said, I had no where else to turn, so I did not want to blow this and loose it" Paige said.

"Did you really think we'd just toss you out?" Piper asked.

"Well I don't know, half of you did not want me here in the first place, so I figured it would be a bad idea to give you any more ammunition to hold against me" Paige said.

"I have a feeling that I'm probably responsible for that fear" Prue stated.

"Oh, well I mean it's not your fault, I totally understand why, you have no reason to like me or trust me" Paige said.

"True, but at the same time I don't have any reason to distrust you either" Prue said.

"Umm, I'm not sure what to say" Paige told her.

"We aren't going to throw you out" Piper told her.

"Thanks" Paige said surprised.

"But in the future, you need to tell us things. In this family, secrets just don't work, they always come back and bite us in the ass" Phoebe said.

"Okay" Paige said.

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"So what was up with the whole yelling out that Paige was pregnant?" Phoebe asked.

"Well, I guess I thought I finally had something on her. I mean she was acting so secretive about it, I thought there might be more, and I dunno, I guess I thought I finally had the proof that she was not who you thought. I guess I kinda overreacted" Cole said.

"You think!" Phoebe laughed.

"Well, I guess I was a little overly suspicious. But I knew she was hiding something, I admit it was not what I had thought, but I was right, she was hiding something and she was lying" Cole said.

"Yes, but she explained all that. So you have to let it go, try giving her a chance" Phoebe said.

"Yeah, I guess I will, but keep in mind I'm doing it for you" Cole said reluctantly.

"Good" Phoebe said.

"But I was right" Cole reminded her.

"Yes Cole, I get it, you are just so brilliant, now shut up and come to bed" Phoebe said.

"Okay" Cole said.

"Hit the lights will you" Phoebe murmured.

"Sure" Cole said, and turned off the lights.

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Piper sat out on the steps, needing to get away from everyone. She sighed and looked over at the house next to them. The lights were on… she wondered what kind of problems having Dan next door would cause.

"Piper?" Leo said from behind her.

"Yes" Pipe replied.

"You said you wanted to finish our talk, or are you more interesting in trying to get a glimpse of Dan" Leo snapped.

"Oh give me a break, now you're jealous" Piper snapped.

"Should I be?" Leo asked.

"Oh give it up, you totally ignore me for weeks, and when you are here you pay attention to Paige and ignore me more. And now you act jealous!" Piper yelled.

"Well, I have a job, excuse me for actually doing it" Leo snapped.

"Oh yeah great, these days you're more married to your work than you are to me" Piper said.

"Well, its funny, I find work a hell of a lot more fun than being here" Leo yelled.

"How did this happen?" Piper questioned.

"What?" Leo asked.

"How did things get so bad between us…? I mean less than a month ago we were trying to have kids, and now, now we can barely stand to be in the same room" Piper said.

"I don't know what happened" Leo said.

Piper sighed and said "Look Leo, it's just that…"

"I have to go" Leo interrupted "The elders are calling"

"Unbelievable" Piper snapped "Fine, go, just get out of here."

Leo orbed out, and Piper put her face in her hands and started to cry.


End file.
